7 Of the Biggest Lies History Has Told You

History has always taught us to accept it as gospel truth. It has popularized icons, personalities and events and immortalized them in words described only from the perspective of the writer. How true or false are such events that were documented way back in ancient times is a question we have to wonder. Legends like the discovery of America, who broke the sphinx nose and Stonehenge may have some fantastic anecdotes and supposed facts that we all like to believe; unfortunately several of these facts have been turned on their heads as nothing but just tales and assumptions of the historians at the time. Instead they turned out historical lies and not as fact as we believe today. Read on about ten historical lies that you actually thought were facts.

1. Stonehenge has been in its original location for 4000 years

One of the most incredible ancient mysteries of Europe where one has to gives credit for the accurate precision of position of the stones to coincide with solstices. But!! One can’t say the same for the location which was recently discovered by archaeological evidence to be untrue.

Archaeologists at UCL and the University of Leicester discovered that the actual quarries where the spotted dolerite bluestones stones were produced were from the outcrop of Carb Goedog in Wales while the rhyolite bluestones came from the welsh quarries of Craig Rhos-y-felin. The archaeologists also found incriminating evidence that suggested the stones were dragged 140 miles from Wales to its present location in Wiltshire UK in 2900 BC

2. Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492

One of the biggest lies involving the discovery of the great nation of America. America was inhabited by several nomadic tribes that would cross over from the Bering land bridge cross Alaska thousands of years ago. Both Historical documentation and archaeological evidence point out to the Vikings led by Leif Erikson who discovered New Foundland in Canada and named it Vinland in 1000AD. All Columbus did was enter America and colonize its natives.

3. Paul Revere shouted “the British are coming, The British are coming”.

Paul Revere may have made the famous midnight ride but he certainly never shouted “The British are coming”. That was a dramatization of history made famous by the poem “Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow which somehow stuck and became truth perhaps as a symbol of patriotism. Paul Revere never really needed to simply because he was on a secret mission along with compatriot William Dawes to warn Hancock and Adams and the minutemen to set out for Lexington and Concord where the British were expected to attack. Now on a mission like that would you expect him to start shouting about it?

4. Vikings did not wear horned helmets

All over media, picture books, stories and even firm, Vikings are portrayed as wearing horned helmets. They never did!! It was just a dramatization and an assumed myth by Illustrators over the years depicting Vikings with their horned helmets. Such helmets existed far back ancient times over 1000 years ago during the Bronze Age and were only sued for rituals and pagan ceremonies.

5. A knight’s armor is very heavy

Definitely not!! Instead, a knight’s armor weighed no more than 30 – 50 lbs. If it weighed so much, how would you expect the man wearing it to fight? It wouldn’t be possible to move in metal armor weighing a ton.

6. Van Gogh Cut off his ear and gave it to his lover

That is totally hogwash as many stories and supposed facts imply. According to the story, Van Gogh and his friend had a good drink and after being intoxicated cut off his ear and gave it to a brothel worker named Rachel as a love token. It was untrue and a new German study of the letters of Van Gogh and his Friend Paul Gaugin had a fight because the latter was leaving and in the process, Gaugin a keen fencer sliced of his ear. Both men decided to keep quiet about the incident and not pursue it further which was evident from the correspondence between them.

7. Napoleon shot off the Sphinx’ nose

There is a common myth that the Sphinx nose was shot off by a cannonball fired by one of Napoleon’s soldiers. The truth is that the nose was destroyed several centuries earlier at a time when Napoleon wasn’t even born. The man responsible for destroying the Nose of the Sphinx was a religious leader Muhammad AL Sa’im Ad Dahr who destroyed it because he was angry at people for worshipping the monument.

What do you think?

Andrew Kevin Alpin is a senior content specialist from Kolkata, India. With a passion for writing from a very young age, he has 8 years of experience in content writing behind him. Apart from being well versed in several niches, Andrew’s forte is social media stories, news, health, fitness, parenting, entertainment, literature, philosophy, travel and food. With a penchant for writing poetry, he has also published a collection of poems written over years titled “Thy will be Done”. Andrew’s interests include reading, music and collecting occult and spiritual books.